Eternal
You’d call him out on it, but you decide you’ll leave this one to the Emperor to ultimately decide. Besides, you figure you owe him that much for possibly saving your life.
“I don’t know if I have that much pull with the Emperor, but I will mention it to him.”
“That’s all I ask.”
In a few more days your task in Delerg is completed and all known targets have been eliminated. Delerg has also been effectively cowed into submission given what you did there. Stories of the ruthless young Eternal that destroyed entire villages to purge traitors are already being spread. Not exactly true since technically you only destroyed a couple and the rest were just rebel made hideouts, but if it teaches the people to fear the repercussions of treasonous behavior in the future you don’t care. You tell the Emperor as much during your report, he seems pleased with your report and feelings on the matter.
“The destruction of the shadows went better than I had hoped. There are probably a few shadows that fled while they were on the surface, but the derro took out all of them that were in Gloom. I think to be on the safe side I’m going to have that old ruined temple of theirs in Delerg destroyed. No need for it to become some sort of symbol or some such nonsense. Speaking of Delerg, you did an excellent job. It must’ve been a shock to find out you weren’t just going to lead svelk, but orcs as well. Hated to surprise you like that, but I figured if you could successfully lead an operation with those two types under duress, you were definitely fit to lead anyone.”
“I am glad I met your expectations.”
“I never had any doubt…so what are your thoughts on good Captain Gruz and his request? I’m sure you had some on the subject.”
“Personally sir, I believe he has overstepped his bounds with this veiled threat, which is regrettable since I was beginning to respect him as a capable leader.”
The Emperor nods a bit.
“Hm, he must’ve made a bit of an impression on you to acknowledge his skills. So what do you believe should be done? Should he be killed or ignored? Obviously I’ve already made up my mind on the subject, but as always, I’m interested in your thoughts.”
In the past you sometimes hesitated to give an answer, but now you know that the Emperor always wants to hear what you really think and you’re more than willing to tell him.
“Well…I do believe he is genuine. I do believe he only wants his people to receive a little extra recognition for their duty. Some lesser beings cannot be merely satisfied with just serving greatness and they must be rewarded in a more tangible way. If it is possible, I would grant Gruz’s request. It will keep him and the rest of green skins happy for quite awhile and you’ll have no problems from them in the near future. Having the orcs calm and obedient right now is also important also because we have just eliminated our internal security force as it were. We will need to rely on raw force to maintain order as well as to stomp out the remaining shadows and rebels. After the Empire has been better stabilized, we can always purge Gruz and some of the orcs later if necessary.”
The Emperor displays a big grin on his face and puts his hand on your shoulder.
“I swear son, if I didn’t know better I’d think you had the ability to read minds. Sometimes its like I’m talking to a mirror that’s several centuries younger than me. Yes, I fully intend on granting his request. Time will tell if he requires purging though he’s getting on in years for an orc and who knows what dangerous battlefields he may be sent to in the future? Anyway Jacob and I are already rebuilding a new internal security force. I might get Marik’s help on this too, though I know he really wants to work on his current project, but there really isn’t any need for it now…anyway you don’t need to worry about any of this, I’m sending you to help with more shadow hunting and rebel clean up in the core province area. Don’t want to let up on them yet and you seem to be good at setting an example. Putting the fear into the populace to discourage any further thoughts of treason and all of that. I’ll be so glad when we’ve got things back to normal again, so I can focus my attention to the Felkan Kingdom again. Still, it doesn’t need to be work all the time now does it? Maybe you should go out and celebrate, you have my full permission to take a week off. Go get yourself one of those high priced elven whores I’m always hearing about, its on me son!” The Emperor laughs.
Sometimes you still can’t get over just how relaxed the Emperor can suddenly get about everything. The funny thing is, it makes you feel relaxed too, to a certain extent anyway. Maybe it’s due to this that you sometimes wonder about something he’s always calling you a lot…
Son.
You don’t know if he’s using it as a term of endearment or it’s his “nickname” for you, or what. The funny thing is you do find him to be a “fatherly” figure. You’ve resisted addressing it before, but now something is urging you to do so.
“I have a question and I don’t know how to ask this of you.”
“Well speak son, you know you can always tell or ask me anything, doesn’t mean you’ll get it though.” The Emperor says with another chuckle.
“Are you my father?” you ask and there is a short pause of silence. The Emperor doesn’t look too surprised that you asked the question though.
“Do you want me to be your father?” he asks back which naturally just confuses you even more and you feel a little silly for asking in the first place.
“I…I just…I dunno, you’re always calling me son and…just forget it. I allowed my feelings of respect and admiration of you to exceed their boundaries. Forgive me, Emperor.”
“You’re too tightly wound sometimes. Don’t worry about it; I wasn’t offended by your question. But my question still stands, do you WANT me to be your father?”
“I’d like to think you are, but I imagine I’m just wishing you are.”
“If you think I am. Then I am. If that’s what pleases you then what difference does it make?”
“None, I suppose.” You answer, but the Emperor can see that it does make a difference to you even if you don’t want it to.
“Tell me, have you ever wondered about your parents? I mean you obviously know that they didn’t raise you.”
“No. I’ve never really thought of them at all.” You answer.
Its true too, you have genuinely never wondered about who your parents were. You were far too busy with torturous training to ever really ponder such things. It’s only been recently that this subject has recently popped into your head.
“I didn’t think so. They were never in your life and you were an orphan in the care of the Empire. And who runs the Empire?”
You smile and see what the Emperor is trying to do.
“You. The Empire took care of me and since you are the Empire, then really you’ve been responsible for raising me my whole life.”
“Correct! Now, do you feel better?”
“A little, though how come you call me frequently call me son anyway?”
“Well because of all the reasons you would think of me as your father. I’ve been providing for you as well as teaching you how to survive in this world. And hell, I’m even fond of you. Those factors alone already qualify me more as a father more than some of those peasants out their that just keep breeding children and never take any responsibility for them, so why not call you son?”
You know it seems silly, but the fact that the Emperor practically considers you his son gives you a good feeling. Possibly the best you’ve ever felt. Somewhere within the hardened exterior that was beat into you, there still exists a child who would like nothing more than to just hug the Emperor right now. You resist this faint urge of course. As close as you’re feeling to the Emperor at this moment, you still have this sense of duty and protocol stuck in your head even if the Emperor himself isn’t quite as hung up on such things.
I thank you for explaining all this and putting this all into perspective, but I think I still feel more comfortable addressing you as Emperor.”
“As you wish, but again if you ever let the occasional paternal label slip out every now and then, it wouldn’t be something that would offend me. I’m sure more than a few of my subjects have called me much worse things.” The Emperor snickers.
Later that night as you preparing to go to sleep you think on the Emperor’s words and just as you’re basking in the comfort of them, your mind briefly wanders into something much more unpleasant.
If the Emperor is your “father” does that make Mistress your “mother?”
She even referred to herself as that once. While she was just being sick when she said it, the twisted thing is now you can’t help but think of her as a semi-maternal figure. She was in your life longer than any other adult during your growing years and for good or ill is responsible for most of your combat skills. In fact, so far she’s been in your life longer and probably more influential on your development than ANYONE.
You suddenly don’t feel very well pondering that and don’t sleep well that night.
“I don’t know if I have that much pull with the Emperor, but I will mention it to him.”
“That’s all I ask.”
In a few more days your task in Delerg is completed and all known targets have been eliminated. Delerg has also been effectively cowed into submission given what you did there. Stories of the ruthless young Eternal that destroyed entire villages to purge traitors are already being spread. Not exactly true since technically you only destroyed a couple and the rest were just rebel made hideouts, but if it teaches the people to fear the repercussions of treasonous behavior in the future you don’t care. You tell the Emperor as much during your report, he seems pleased with your report and feelings on the matter.
“The destruction of the shadows went better than I had hoped. There are probably a few shadows that fled while they were on the surface, but the derro took out all of them that were in Gloom. I think to be on the safe side I’m going to have that old ruined temple of theirs in Delerg destroyed. No need for it to become some sort of symbol or some such nonsense. Speaking of Delerg, you did an excellent job. It must’ve been a shock to find out you weren’t just going to lead svelk, but orcs as well. Hated to surprise you like that, but I figured if you could successfully lead an operation with those two types under duress, you were definitely fit to lead anyone.”
“I am glad I met your expectations.”
“I never had any doubt…so what are your thoughts on good Captain Gruz and his request? I’m sure you had some on the subject.”
“Personally sir, I believe he has overstepped his bounds with this veiled threat, which is regrettable since I was beginning to respect him as a capable leader.”
The Emperor nods a bit.
“Hm, he must’ve made a bit of an impression on you to acknowledge his skills. So what do you believe should be done? Should he be killed or ignored? Obviously I’ve already made up my mind on the subject, but as always, I’m interested in your thoughts.”
In the past you sometimes hesitated to give an answer, but now you know that the Emperor always wants to hear what you really think and you’re more than willing to tell him.
“Well…I do believe he is genuine. I do believe he only wants his people to receive a little extra recognition for their duty. Some lesser beings cannot be merely satisfied with just serving greatness and they must be rewarded in a more tangible way. If it is possible, I would grant Gruz’s request. It will keep him and the rest of green skins happy for quite awhile and you’ll have no problems from them in the near future. Having the orcs calm and obedient right now is also important also because we have just eliminated our internal security force as it were. We will need to rely on raw force to maintain order as well as to stomp out the remaining shadows and rebels. After the Empire has been better stabilized, we can always purge Gruz and some of the orcs later if necessary.”
The Emperor displays a big grin on his face and puts his hand on your shoulder.
“I swear son, if I didn’t know better I’d think you had the ability to read minds. Sometimes its like I’m talking to a mirror that’s several centuries younger than me. Yes, I fully intend on granting his request. Time will tell if he requires purging though he’s getting on in years for an orc and who knows what dangerous battlefields he may be sent to in the future? Anyway Jacob and I are already rebuilding a new internal security force. I might get Marik’s help on this too, though I know he really wants to work on his current project, but there really isn’t any need for it now…anyway you don’t need to worry about any of this, I’m sending you to help with more shadow hunting and rebel clean up in the core province area. Don’t want to let up on them yet and you seem to be good at setting an example. Putting the fear into the populace to discourage any further thoughts of treason and all of that. I’ll be so glad when we’ve got things back to normal again, so I can focus my attention to the Felkan Kingdom again. Still, it doesn’t need to be work all the time now does it? Maybe you should go out and celebrate, you have my full permission to take a week off. Go get yourself one of those high priced elven whores I’m always hearing about, its on me son!” The Emperor laughs.
Sometimes you still can’t get over just how relaxed the Emperor can suddenly get about everything. The funny thing is, it makes you feel relaxed too, to a certain extent anyway. Maybe it’s due to this that you sometimes wonder about something he’s always calling you a lot…
Son.
You don’t know if he’s using it as a term of endearment or it’s his “nickname” for you, or what. The funny thing is you do find him to be a “fatherly” figure. You’ve resisted addressing it before, but now something is urging you to do so.
“I have a question and I don’t know how to ask this of you.”
“Well speak son, you know you can always tell or ask me anything, doesn’t mean you’ll get it though.” The Emperor says with another chuckle.
“Are you my father?” you ask and there is a short pause of silence. The Emperor doesn’t look too surprised that you asked the question though.
“Do you want me to be your father?” he asks back which naturally just confuses you even more and you feel a little silly for asking in the first place.
“I…I just…I dunno, you’re always calling me son and…just forget it. I allowed my feelings of respect and admiration of you to exceed their boundaries. Forgive me, Emperor.”
“You’re too tightly wound sometimes. Don’t worry about it; I wasn’t offended by your question. But my question still stands, do you WANT me to be your father?”
“I’d like to think you are, but I imagine I’m just wishing you are.”
“If you think I am. Then I am. If that’s what pleases you then what difference does it make?”
“None, I suppose.” You answer, but the Emperor can see that it does make a difference to you even if you don’t want it to.
“Tell me, have you ever wondered about your parents? I mean you obviously know that they didn’t raise you.”
“No. I’ve never really thought of them at all.” You answer.
Its true too, you have genuinely never wondered about who your parents were. You were far too busy with torturous training to ever really ponder such things. It’s only been recently that this subject has recently popped into your head.
“I didn’t think so. They were never in your life and you were an orphan in the care of the Empire. And who runs the Empire?”
You smile and see what the Emperor is trying to do.
“You. The Empire took care of me and since you are the Empire, then really you’ve been responsible for raising me my whole life.”
“Correct! Now, do you feel better?”
“A little, though how come you call me frequently call me son anyway?”
“Well because of all the reasons you would think of me as your father. I’ve been providing for you as well as teaching you how to survive in this world. And hell, I’m even fond of you. Those factors alone already qualify me more as a father more than some of those peasants out their that just keep breeding children and never take any responsibility for them, so why not call you son?”
You know it seems silly, but the fact that the Emperor practically considers you his son gives you a good feeling. Possibly the best you’ve ever felt. Somewhere within the hardened exterior that was beat into you, there still exists a child who would like nothing more than to just hug the Emperor right now. You resist this faint urge of course. As close as you’re feeling to the Emperor at this moment, you still have this sense of duty and protocol stuck in your head even if the Emperor himself isn’t quite as hung up on such things.
I thank you for explaining all this and putting this all into perspective, but I think I still feel more comfortable addressing you as Emperor.”
“As you wish, but again if you ever let the occasional paternal label slip out every now and then, it wouldn’t be something that would offend me. I’m sure more than a few of my subjects have called me much worse things.” The Emperor snickers.
Later that night as you preparing to go to sleep you think on the Emperor’s words and just as you’re basking in the comfort of them, your mind briefly wanders into something much more unpleasant.
If the Emperor is your “father” does that make Mistress your “mother?”
She even referred to herself as that once. While she was just being sick when she said it, the twisted thing is now you can’t help but think of her as a semi-maternal figure. She was in your life longer than any other adult during your growing years and for good or ill is responsible for most of your combat skills. In fact, so far she’s been in your life longer and probably more influential on your development than ANYONE.
You suddenly don’t feel very well pondering that and don’t sleep well that night.